Thoughts and questions regarding just about everything while taking a daily stroll with my dog.

Monday, December 17, 2012

It's So Much More Than Guns

When traveling the west there are places where, if you want to listen to the radio, there are few choices. That is why we happened to be listening to Rush Limbaugh when the news broke about the shootings in Newtown, CT.

I give him credit. He promised to update his listeners when there were substantiated facts. Then Hannity came on already armed with Mark Furman who lives in Idaho and Ann Coulter who was already expressing the need for more people to have carry permits. Okay, none of these people are reporters but they are forces in the media.

What could Mark Furman add to the dialog? What could Ann Coulter add? Or any of the other talking heads that came in a steady stream throughout the day spewing misinformation. The media did not and is still not doing itself proud.

It seems strange to me that this same media could not press our government to bring forth the facts regarding a terrorist attack in Benghazi where our ambassador and three other Americans were killed when the facts were right in front of their faces, yet rush to the fore with tons of misinformation and speculation about a devastating occurrence in small town America. They couldn't even let the people involved have a chance to catch their breath.

We have friends in New York who had dinner with friends from Newtown Saturday evening and were told the media was even trying to get access to Facebook pages of the dead children to see what they might dig up. I don't know how many 6 and 7 year olds actually have Facebook pages, but assuming they do, what could possibly be found? Please! Have they no decency? No.

You see, it is about so much more than guns. Today they are looking to see if they can criminalize the mother because she had guns. Demonize everyone, warranted or not, it sells.

When you come right down to it, there are more people who own guns than you can count. Many own more than one. In much of the west it's a way of life. Trying to deny them would be an exercise in futility just as trying to deny the gangs in Chicago that wage war on each other and the citizens on a daily basis.

What is there even more of than guns? How about electronic devices loaded with violent games where young people in particular play them all day? Does that contribute? What about the mind bending drugs unruly kids are routinely put on because the parents can't or won't control them? Could that be a contributing factor? Or alcohol or other drugs the young people themselves may add to the mix?

We have a problem in this country. Incidents like this most recent one brings it home in the most hideous of manners. But rushing to judgement and blaming it all on guns is burying our head in the sand. Let's look at our society as a whole. We are polarized and filled with hate toward our fellow citizens. Listen to the political dialog. There is nothing uplifting to be heard.

There have been too many of these incidents over the past several years. That is the truth. We're being told to take a look at ourselves, not just guns. Anyone with the intent to do mass damage to others will find a way without guns. It's what drives them to it that matters.

It might be worth noting that a lot of these murderers we deem monsters turn their weapons on themselves. Could it be that somewhere in the fog in which they live they realize what could have been an extreme scream for help was a step too far?

Let the media explore something other than the anguish of the families and the community. They deserve the time and privacy they need to grieve. Many may never heal and lives have been forever altered. They don't need the media perpetuating it.

5 comments:

I appreciated reading your well thought-out article. I mostly agree with your position. However, I just cannot believe American's are from a separate evolutionary stream than, let's say, Europeans. Europeans don't have access to assault weapons like we do and their experience is much different than ours. Could at least regulation of some weapons and ammunition be considered? I agree that banning weapons is futile. It would require a constititional ammendment, and that is not going to happen.

p.s. If I lived out west and could only get Rush **$$$# on the radio, I'd invest in a satellite radio connection.

Mari, not to blame the mother.. but she had a very sick son in Aaron and why on earth she had an assault weapon, two hand guns and all that ammunition around a sick boy, is beyond me. That is just asking for a catastrophe.

My car has satellite radio that we subscribe to for just that reason, but alas, we were in the mountains of Montana for which we needed our truck. Ten years old. Regular old radio. And so it will remain. Besides, it's sometimes good to hear how others think, especially those that would like us to believe they are all knowing!

About Me

I have insatiable curiosity and an innate desire to find out whatever happened to common sense and the spirit of human kindness. For nine years I walked the same route with my dog, day in and day out. This blog began as a compilation of things I thought about while walking with him. I'm sometimes right, sometimes not - but I'm always open to intelligent and civil discussion.